Just a Friend, a Comrade, and Nothing More
by Beloved Pearl
Summary: Leon, Claire, and Sherry escaped the horror, and they're holed up in a motel in the aftermath of the decimation of Raccoon City. Emotionally intense situations like this can bring people together, but they can also tear them apart. Leon x Claire. Rated M for later chapters.
1. Chapter 1

**Just a Friend, a Comrade, and Nothing More**

They were stood on the outskirts of what was left of Raccoon City; an entire city of 100,000 people simply wiped out in a matter of seconds. The government certainly weren't taking any risks when they dropped a nuclear missile on it.

Leon, Claire, and Sherry had barely made it out with their lives – or their sanity – intact, and now they just stood side by side staring at the warm, orange glow above the former city, not knowing what to do next. This was the first time in what felt like an eternity that they weren't running from some form of monster, now was the time for the shock and reality of everything that had happened to kick in. Sherry shifted and buried her head into Claire's side.

"My mommy and daddy are dead, aren't they?" Unshed tears sparkled in the little girls deep blue eyes.

Neither Leon, nor Claire knew how to answer her question; however they suspected that Sherry already knew and just wanted confirmation. Claire gave the girl a sympathetic look and nodded her head slowly.

"I'm sorry, Sherry."

The young blonde immediately began to sob, and Claire knelt down to pull her into a tight hug and rubbed her back soothingly.

"There, there. It's all going to be okay. Your mommy and daddy loved you very much."

Leon silently watched the scene unfold, and feelings of sorrow and anger began to overcome him.

"Hey, it's up to us to take out Umbrella." He said with determination in his voice.

Claire offered him a small smile from where she was kneeling, and nodded her head slightly.

"Let's get out of here, we need to find a place to sleep and recompose ourselves, we're gonna have a tough fight on our hands", suggested Leon.

Claire bit her lip and felt a guilty feeling settle in the pit of her stomach. "Leon, there's something I-"

"Let's just find a place to crash first, anything else can wait until later." He cut in.

Leon walked over to Claire and Sherry and wrapped his good arm around Claire's shoulder, guiding them both down the train tracks towards the next town. Claire sighed in defeat and gave Leon another small nod, allowing her head to fall onto his shoulder for support as they walked.

* * *

The walk to the next town didn't take as long as expected, and understandably there were a lot of people bustling about as the news filtered through about the disaster in nearby Raccoon City.  
Leon, Claire, and Sherry found themselves in a small motel on the outskirts. It was away from prying eyes as their blood stained, disheveled appearance, and Leon's now defunct RPD uniform would almost definitely attract unwanted attention. The middle-aged lady at the reception desk looked too shocked at their appearance to ask any questions and quickly showed them to their room.

It was cosy - a bit dated but cosy nonetheless - and it was completely zombie free which had to be a bonus. There was a double bed in the main room with a television set on top of a chest of draws, and a bathroom directly adjoining, there was also another small adjoining room with a single bed and radio.

"I'll take the single, you and Sherry can take the double." Leon offered with a smile.

Claire didn't have a chance to respond before Sherry collapsed in an exhausted heap onto the bed, without removing her clothes or shoes.

"Poor kid, she can barely function. No child should have to face the kinds of horrors she has, she must be in a state of shock", Claire whispered with a worried look on her young face.

"No adult should have to face those kinds of horrors either, I still can't believe what actually happened; it all seems so surreal. How are you holding up?" Leon sounded concerned.

"Me? I'm fine, really. I'm just glad we got Sherry out safely." She hoped she sounded convincing, the last thing any of them needed was Claire breaking down, and she worried that if she started crying she may never be able to stop.

Leon wasn't convinced. "Why don't you go take the first shower? Get yourself cleaned up and I'm sure you'll feel a bit better."

"Are you sure? I mean, I don't mind going second, I bet you want to get your wound cleaned and re-dressed." Claire asked.

"I've gone this long with it covered in all sorts of grime, I'm sure I can wait another half hour." Leon chuckled.

Claire returned the smile and made for the bathroom, "I won't be long."

Leon just waved his hand dismissively and sat on the end of the double bed, turning the TV on with the remote and he began to skip through the channels.

"… _Viral outbreak is one of the theories behind the horrific disaster that occurred late last night in Raccoon City… A catastrophic nuclear power plant meltdown is being blamed for the deaths of 100, 000 people in Raccoon City… It is reported that there are no survivors of the shocking terrorist attack on Raccoon City. Umbrella has dispatched hundreds of its military troops and scientists to help solve the case, more news on this to come …"_

Leon turned the TV off in frustration, so many excuses were being battered about when in actual fact it was all Umbrella's doing, and now they were swooping in trying to play the good guy. Leon sighed deeply and cringed when he ran his hands through his matted hair, realizing that he desperately needed a shower.

* * *

Claire was undressing herself when she noticed how filthy her clothes actually were, she decided to place them in the sink in hot, soapy water to soak, and she would scrub them when she got out of the shower. With that in mind she stepped into the shower cubicle and turned on the hot water. She didn't anticipate how good it would feel to have the hot water cascading down her back, massaging her aching muscles in the process and she had to suppress a moan. She proceeded to scrub herself clean and washed her hair too, watching the blood and grime flow down the drain.  
Claire had never been a fan of cheap motel shampoo in the past, however right now it felt like the best thing in the world. A fruity smell filled the bathroom, drowning out the stench of her filthy clothes. She suddenly became aware of the time and remembered Leon was waiting to use the bathroom too, so she reluctantly turned the shower off and stepped out, wrapping herself in a soft cream towel.

Leon was delicately removing Sherry's shoes from her feet when Claire opened the bathroom door. She smiled at how considerate he was being towards the girl.

"Don't worry about waking her, if her snoring is anything to go by then I think she's out for the count." She chuckled.

Leon laughed too whilst discarding Sherry's shoes near the entrance door, suddenly becoming aware that Claire was wearing nothing but a bath towel and her hair was down.

"So, uh… Are you all finished in the bathroom? He asked nervously, looking anywhere but directly at Claire.

"Yeah, I've just washed my clothes out too, they don't smell great but it's an improvement." Claire answered, apparently unaware of how uncomfortable Leon felt as she walked past him to place her clothes on the radiator.

Leon nodded his head silently and made for the bathroom. "I might be a while whilst I redress this wound. Help yourself to the fridge and mini bar if you're hungry." And he shut the door behind him.

Claire shrugged her shoulders and sat down on the bed, contemplating eating but then realizing she really didn't have an appetite after the night she'd had.

Leon shut the door behind him and leaned against it, closing his eyes. An image of Claire popped into his head, her hair wet and droplets of water dripping down her collarbone. He hadn't noticed how feminine she looked until now, and he was kicking himself for allowing himself to. She was a friend, a comrade, and nothing more.  
He distracted himself from those kinds of thoughts by starting to remove his tattered police uniform; he dumped the clothing into the sink and began filling it up with hot, soapy water and leaving them to soak just like Claire had. Once they were taken care of he slowly proceeded to peel away the bloody bandages wrapped around his shoulder, wincing in the process as he noticed the bandage had stuck to his wound. He decided ripping it off like a band aid would be the best policy and whipped it off…

"FUCK, THAT HURTS!" He yelled.

"Leon?! Are you okay?!" Claire immediately shouted through the door.

Leon winced again and bit his lip, trying to compose himself. "Yup, just fine. No problems here." He lied.

"Do you need any help?" Concern was obvious in her tone of voice.

"Uhh…" Leon looked down at his naked form sat on the edge of the toilet seat, and decided against it. "No, I think I'll be fine. I'll let you know if I need anything. Thanks anyway."

Leon glanced at his shoulder, noticing it had started seeping blood again and rolled his eyes. He stood up and entered the shower cubicle, testing the temperature of the water before placing his wounded shoulder underneath the shower head. Who knew gunshot wounds would hurt so much he thought idly to himself, as he watched the blood drain away.  
Leon began to clean every inch of his body; taking extra care around his bullet wound, soon though the pressure of the water began to make his wound ache so he decided that would do for the time being. He turned off the water and stepped out of the cubicle, grabbing a towel to wrap around his waist. He started to rummage around in the small cabinet above the sink, looking for a first aid box when there was a small knock on the bathroom door.

"Yeah?" He replied.

"Are you definitely sure you don't need any help, Leon? I really don't mind." It was Claire again. She was persistent, that's for sure.

Leon took another look at his bullet wound and saw it was still seeping blood, he tried to look at the exit wound on the back of his shoulder but realized he could barely see it. Leon sighed; he was going to have to accept some help.

"Okay, I could do with some help please. Come on, in."

Claire poked her head around the door, offering Leon a sweet smile before entering the bathroom and closing the door quietly behind her. She stood silently, with her hair still down, dressed only in her bath towel, waiting for Leon to give her permission to inspect his wound. Leon suddenly became aware that he was also only dressed in a bath towel from the waist downwards, and he began to blush.


	2. Chapter 2

**Just a Friend, a Comrade, and Nothing More - Chapter 2**

"So, what do you want me to do for you?" Claire asked politely, completely unaware of how ambiguous her question had been. Leon cleared his throat and forced a dirty comment out of his mind, now was not the time to be making an atmosphere for them both.

"I can't see the back of my wound properly to clean it myself, would you mind doing it for me?"

"Sure, I'm glad you decided to let me help you. We all need a little support sometimes." Claire said smiling before opening the first aid box.

She took out some sterile gauze and small packets of saline solution before washing her hands and moving to stand behind Leon. She gingerly dabbed his wound with the gauze.

"Ada did a pretty good job of bandaging you up, this wound looks uninfected, and I can't see any bullet shrapnel. I suppose she was good for something after all…"

"Don't talk about her like that." Leon spoke seriously. He had a frown on his face.

Claire stopped what she was doing. "I'm sorry. It was wrong of me to say that, I know you liked her."

Leon remained quiet and kept his head down. Claire sighed and carried on cleaning Leon's wound before re-dressing it.

"There, all done. Would you like me to take care of the front of your shoulder too?"

Leon didn't reply. Claire could see she had struck a nerve when she mentioned Ada, so she kneeled down in front of Leon. He saw her face appear in his field of vision and averted his vision to stare at the tiled floor next to her..

"I'm sorry, Leon. Please forgive me?" She spoke softly as he placed her hand on his towel covered knee, looking into his baby blue eyes through his wet hair.

This startled Leon and he looked up, directly into her eyes. How could he say no to those beautiful icy grey eyes? And he found himself nodding.  
At this, Claire moved her attention to his shoulder and began the same process again. She remained kneeling in front of Leon throughout, and he kept his vision politely held over her shoulder, but in his peripheral view he had a perfect sight of her ample chest. Ada was fading fast from his mind.

* * *

Claire couldn't help but also look at Leon's chest whilst she tended to his wound, she didn't realize just how ripped he actually was, those police uniforms didn't do him any justice. Her eyes traveled lower to his abdomen, and as she expected he had a chiseled six-pack. She was beginning to see Leon in a different light; he didn't look anything remotely like a rookie underneath the uniform, she actually thought he had a look of that guy out of Titanic going on, Leonardo Di something? Oh what did it matter, he was hot anyway.

"Okay, you're all patched up." She smiled, her hand lingering on his shoulder for a second longer than she should.

"Thanks." He noticed her hand on his shoulder before she removed it, and he felt a pang of disappointment. They faced each other for a few seconds, their eyes flitting across each others faces as they took in every detail. Leon was the first to break eye contact and he cleared his throat.

"We should get some sleep." He suggested, and he opened the bathroom door, taking his wet clothes with him.

Sherry was still fast asleep when they emerged from the bathroom; Leon walked past her sleeping form and put his clothes on the radiator alongside Claire's.  
Claire was just leaving the bathroom when he walked into his own adjoining bedroom and collapsed onto the bed. He felt a wave of exhaustion sweep over him all of a sudden.

Claire went to go and climb into bed with Sherry when she noticed the little girl had shuffled over to her side of the bed, unwittingly leaving blood and grime from her clothing smeared across the bed sheets. Claire cringed at the thought of having to sleep in stale zombie fluids; she began to wonder what to do when a thought crossed her mind.

* * *

Leon was just about to doze off when he heard Claire's voice from the doorway to his room.

"Leon, are you asleep yet?" She whispered, biting her lip.

Leon stirred and opened his eyes towards her. "No, what's up?"

"I know this may sound completely inappropriate of me, and feel free to tell me to get lost, but… Could I sleep in your bed with you?"

Leon's heart skipped a beat before she carried on, and he instantly felt wide awake.

"It's just Sherry has rolled onto my side of the bed in her sleep and there's stains of god knows what all over the bed sheets. I'd rather not sleep in them if I can help it." Her voice drifted off towards the end of her sentence and she suddenly felt shy. She looked down at her towel and began to pick at the slightly frayed edge.

Leon didn't know what to say, firstly she was asking to sleep in the same bed as him, secondly they were both naked except for their bath towels, and lastly he didn't know if he would be able to keep his hands to himself if she was in such close proximity to him. He snapped out of his thoughts when he realized she was still standing in the doorway waiting for an answer, the atmosphere between them becoming more awkward by the second.

"Uhh… Okay. It'll be a bit cramped though, this is only a single remember." He finally answered.

Claire simply nodded and smiled sweetly as she crawled into bed beside him. There was no space between them, and Claire had her back pressed up against Leon's chest as he spooned into her, placing his arm gently over her waist. She felt safe; safer than she'd felt in a long time.  
She relished the feeling of Leon's arm around her and snuggled further into him, pushing her hips back against his.

Leon didn't know how much he could take, her hips were rubbing against his own and the towels didn't leave much the imagination. He tried to focus on anything but Claire. It was going to be a long night.


End file.
